This book is an excellent ice-breaker on the public transport. Trust me on this one. No one will talk to you about the book you’re reading on the bus unless it says ‘sex’ on the cover. It just really does bring the teenage boy out of everyone.The book itself is not as dirty as an average schoolboy’s mind but there are a few really juicy anecdotes to spice up its academic tone. Dabhoiwala presents us with a thesis that the first sexual revolution happened a couple of hundred years before the 1960s. Admittedly, it was a revolution that dragged, went back and forth, and included mostly white heterosexual men from the middle class and up. Yet, it is certain that something shifted between 1600-1800. It probably had to do with more religious freedom which usually goes hand in hand with other freedoms. Up until 17th century sex between two consenting adults was not a private affair. It was everybody’s business to make sure any fornicating (I love the word ‘fornicate’!) was suitably punished, even by death.Then fairly suddenly a new idea appeared, that maybe the Bible doesn’t always get it right and from this originated the fresh conviction that fornicating, while perhaps morally wrong, should not exactly be against the law. And if anyone wants to fornicate and burn in hell for this, that’s their problem. The society will restrict itself to scorning the adulterers and not having them flagellated, because that’s just, well, medieval. Another new concept was the supposed moral superiority of women. Up until then women were more or less seen as Sin incarnated. They were too weak and not smart enough to resist any temptation therefore gave themselves easily to any desire and have been the cause of the downfall of a man since Eve gave him that apple. Female sexual powers were to be reckoned with and it was even believed that female orgasm was necessary for conception. That’s an interesting and empowering idea, ladies, but luckily it has been abandoned as that would surely be the saddest form of contraception (except for abstinence I suppose). It all changed around the 18th century when men suddenly came to the humbling conclusion that women are actually pure and innocent naturally while men are the lusty ones. And then enters the Rake! A rake is a man who seeks out innocent maiden and ruins them. That’s his job. A rake is the worst thing that can happen to a young lady. Now, if you think that being believed to be morally superior is somehow good for you, then think again. Especially if you are also at a disadvantage physically, economically and socially, which women were. With this brand new attitude men earned themselves a free get out of jail card and shifted all the responsibility onto women. "We men, are lusty, we can’t help it. It’s our nature and that’s that, now you, young maidens, are chaste and pure by nature, so it shouldn’t be that hard for you to resist the temptation, unless, of course, there is something seriously wrong with you."This review is now getting a bit longish and I haven’t even got through half of my notes because I ended up rambling. So to be concise: There were lots of other things that changed and lots of news ideas were discussed. Some brave thinkers proposed the legalization of polygamy (which culminated with Joseph Smith who went as far as to start a new religion just so he can have more than one wife. Very funny, as these days most men have to be coerced to taking even one wife,) other men proposed complete abolition of marriage as some sort of anachronistic nonsense, and Jeremy Bentham heterosexual himself wrote an essay urging to give full rights to homosexuals, but no one wanted to print it. The attitude toward prostitutes changed accordingly, as well – they were no longer evil, they were to be pitied, as obviously being naturally chaste must’ve been at some point spoiled by a lusty man or two (males were excused though, because it’s better they do it with prostitutes than other men, God forbid, and they surely would because they couldn’t control themselves). It created a new fashionable branch of philanthropy: helping fallen women. The rich in their amazing generosity built Magdalen Houses where all fallen women could be brainwashed and come out pure and clean. The prostitutes who escaped the clutches of Magdalen Houses could become real celebrities and have proto-tabloids follow them around and publish sensational stories about how they fell off a horse et cetera. If they were smart they could make quite a lot of money before dying of syphilis by taking on rich lovers, blackmailing them and then selling the stories to the press. The fact that now everyone could print anything definitely helped changing attitudes to sex. Nothing relaxes morals better than the knowledge that other people are doing it as well. To summarise I will quote a certain self-published author I have read: “Everything changed and many things stayed the same”. To say that there was a sexual revolution in the 18th might be a bit of an overstatement, but something has changed and many of the attitudes to sex which were born then remain in the way we think about sex and gender still. “The Origins of Sex” is a compelling read rich with anecdotes and illustrations and it was often hard to put down. A few times when I was reading it late in the evening my boyfriend would call out from the bedroom frustrated:“Oh, I can’t believe you’d rather be READING about it!”
